Use 1. For trial. Are we of the number of God's peculiar people? As David said to the Egyptian, ' To whom belongest thou ? wdience art thou ? ' 1 Sam. xxx. 13. So, if the question should be put to you, Whence are you ? to whom do you belong ? Can you answer, ' Lord, I am thine,' I belong to thee ? If it be so, then : —
1. When did you solemnly dedicate yourselves to him ? If you be God's, can you remember when you first took your oath of allegiance to him ? There is a solemn time of avouching one another, when God avouched you to be his people, and you avouched God to be your God : Deut. xxvi. 17, 18, ' Thou hast avouched this day the Lord to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his command- ments, and judgments, and to hearken to his voice : and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people.' When did you give up the key of your hearts to God, and lie at God's feet, and say, ' Lord, here I am, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' Acts ix. (j. They that are God's come in this way, by resignation or spiritual contract, by entering into covenant with him.
2. Wliat have you that is peculiar ? Have you the favour of his people ? Have you the conversation of his people ? God's ]:>eculiar people have peculiar mercies; at least their hearts and spirits are
444 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. XCIX.
carried out after them : Ps. cvi. 4, ' Lord, remember me with the favour of thy people.' Common mercies will not serve their turn, but tliey must have renewing and sanctifying mercies, and special pledges of his love ; not increase of estate, honour, or esteem in the world ; these are not things their hearts run upon ; but, Lord, the favour of thy people ; or, Ps. cxix. 132, ' Do good unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.' There is a goodness which God vouch- safeth to all his creatures ; to the men of the world he gives a plenti- ful portion ; their bellies are filled with thy hid treasure ; but, Lord, let me have the comforts of thy Spirit, the manifestations of thy love and good-will to my soul in Christ Jesus. As Luther said and pro- tested, God should not put him off with gold nor with honours ; I must have his grace, his Christ, his Spirit ; Vcdde protcstatus sum me nolle his satiari. If you have such peculiar spirits, your hearts would be carried out after these distinguishing mercies. A man may have common mercies and go to hell and be cast away ; but God's peculiar people have peculiar mercies ; then they will not be contented with a common conversation : Mat. v. 47, ' If you love them that love you, what do you more than others ? ' There is rl Trepiaaov, something over and above, that should be seen in a Christian's life. It is a fault, 1 Cor. iii. 3, ' Ye walk as men.' In the new creature there should be something more excellent. God's peculiar people, as there is a differ- ence between them and others in point of privileges, so also in point of conversation ; they should live at a higher rate, more heavenly, meek, mortified, more charitable than others. Christians should walk so as to convince the world, and make them wonder at the beauty, majesty, and strictness of their lives. You harden carnal men when you profess yourselves to be God's peculiar people, and there is no difference between you and others.
3. Doth your resignation appear in your living and acting for God ? Is holiness to be written in visible characters upon all you do ? Zech. xiv. 19, 20. The impress of God is upon his people, it is upon the horse bells, upon all the pots of Jerusalem ; it is upon all they have, all they enjoy, ' Holiness to the Lord ; ' they spend their time as being dedicated to God, they spend their estates as being dedicated to God. Do you use yourselves as those that are Christ's, improv- ing your time, relations, talents, interests for his glory ? This may be discovered partly by checking temptations upon this account : 1 Cor. vi. 15, ' Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them to be the members of an harlot ? ' This body is Clirist's, and therefore must be kept in sanctification and in honour ; this time I misspend, this estate is Christ's ; and so you dare not give way to the folly and sin with which others are transported, for you look upon all that you have as Christ's. And so also are your contrivances and projects for God's glory ; you will be casting about how you may honour Christ by your estate and relations, and everything you have : Neh. i. 11, ' Grant me mercy in the sight of this man : for I was the king's cup-bearer; ' that is, he was considering what use he miglit make of this authority and esteem which he had with the king of Babylon, and what use he might make of it for God. God hath advanced me to such honour and place ; what honour hath God had ? Look, as David, 2 Sam. xvii.